Fire and Emergency New Zealand says response times may be delayed as the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union escalates to two one-hour strikes per week.

Strikes are planned between 12pm and 1pm this Friday and Monday, with further notices for 20, 23 and 27 February, and 2 March.

During the strike periods, Fire and Emergency will still respond to emergency calls.

In areas covered by professional firefighters, the closest available volunteers will respond from their stations.

Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler says both parties are involved in facilitation and the agency believes the strike action needlessly puts the community at risk.

Fire and Emergency sought facilitation citing a significant gap between its offer and the union’s expectations.

The agency says its pre-facilitation offer amounted to a 6.2 percent average increase over three years.

It says this was three times less than the NZPFU’s settlement proposal.

Under that offer, average senior firefighter salaries would move from about $81,000–$87,000 to $86,000–$93,000 at the end of the period, excluding overtime and allowances, which add an average of nearly $39,000 to annual remuneration.

Fire and Emergency says average senior firefighter pay has increased by 37 percent over the past decade, more than 10 percent above the average increase for all workers.

The agency says it remains committed to reaching a fair and sustainable settlement while facilitation continues.

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